trembling limbs on my marble floor. The silence that followed was heavy. Usually, this kind of silence meant a death

And here was Luca, a glitch, leaki

heaved. Was he waiting for a blow?. I could see it in the way his muscles were tensed. He was

My voice

. A broken sob

ped into the mess, my shoes clicking on the floor. I reache

riminal empire, he felt like a collection of bones, bird bones. He let ou

.." he

feel the frantic beat of his heart through his ruined shirt. "The South is behind you. Your father

e ended up back on the floor. I made a decision. I didn't call the clean

was an intrusion, and intimacy I hadn't asked for. As I carried him up, I noticed how he

like onyx. I strode to the bed and

tly, looking lik

is was the "strategic asset" I had traded a year o

I didn't do this out of kindness. I did it because I needed o

pills I had flushed were the only thing keeping him t

" I com

touched his lips. "Already, Silas? You really are a preda

rrogance," I said. "Strip, or

th trembling fingers, he began to undo his butt

te silk fell away, the "S

vered in

er was a jagged scar. But his chest stopped me. Right o

ad used his son

t before I pulled the trigger. It wasn't pity. It was the fury

said. My voi

e edge of the bed and began to wipe his face with the w

uttered. "In the North, we don'

ou," he whispered. "The

cise

d me with a look I couldn't read. Could be a mix of suspicion and hunger. Maybe no

t the door brok

tood up. Only one person had the clearance to b

r," I

ened. Ezra

sciplined muscle. He was the only man I trusted with my se

the half-naked boy clutching a pi

he said. His voice was a low rumble. "But we have a pr

nal. They won't get one,"

sed on me. "I found this in the lobby," he said. He held up

e. Midnight. The garden gate.

hatred. But behind the hatred was terror. He was

ust like I told you. He's a rat in suit. Let me take h

is my husband, and you will address

ind his eyes before he buried it under his profess

message." I turned back to the bed. "Go. Double the guard at t

ng the mess instead of letting him clean

a. He was slumped ag

?" I

ithdrawal was hitting him hard. I re

ce cold. Then,

unded like a wet rattle. His hands flew to hi

reathe...."

tay with me. It's just the

e was turning pale. "Not

rt was visible. It was thumping irregularly against his

hadn't just taken away his crutch. I had taken away t

roared. N

hissed. "I didn't pay

. They were unfocused and full of pai

hance,"

private physician. "Get to the estate. Now. Bring

hing was slow. Too slow. I began

's an order." For the first time in my l